Will Self Love Heal Us?

Recently, another humanistic idea was presented to me, and that is the idea of self-love.  Whenever I hear this term, I shudder, similar to when people believe and confess that we are all gods and a part of god.  Someone came to visit and I told her I had a sudden pain in my left knee that had been there a couple of days.  She told me that she has used a technique that worked for her called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).  She explained that it works like acupuncture, but without the needles, and she claimed that it had worked for her.  So I was quite interested, until the term "self-love" came up, which works in conjunction with it.

First I had to say a few times, "Even though I have pain and discomfort in my knee, I deeply love and respect myself."  That was soooooo hard!! Why? Because I know that without Jesus I am nothing. He took me in my sinful state, and He loved me as I am. I deserved nothing but punishment for my sins, and death. But Jesus paid MY PRICE!! I am forever and ever grateful to Him for what He did for me!  So to focus on how much I love myself frankly felt foreign, strange, and plain wrong since I know in my heart that it is not and never will be primarily about ME! It is about God and how truly incredibly awesome He is!!!

So that was how it began. Then I had to tap under my eyes, my shoulder, top of my head, etc. and say, "I have pain and discomfort in my knee." So I tried the techniques for a short while with the tapping and confessing the pain, and then finally I couldn't do it anymore. I had to stop.  I told her that this goes contrary to what I believe!  In fact, I told her that I believe the exact opposite.  I said that I believe that what we confess is what we get, so if I keep confessing the pain, I will just get more of the same!  Then I told her that our words are a very powerful thing and what we speak will happen!  She agreed.  I said that I declare healing over my body and I speak the Scriptures - that by Jesus' stripes I am healed. I said that Jesus took the punishment for me when He died on the cross, and when He was beaten, He took it for our healing, so He would suffer for it and not us! I said I had thanked Him each time I quoted the verse for going through that torture for me!  I also said that I had been healed by quoting this Scripture (in fact too many times to count).

Then the conversation came back again to self-love, and she said it was important to love ourselves.  I said I do but only in the light of how God sees me. That's who I really am.  I said He loves me in spite of my flaws.  At that point the conversation ended.  

This incident really made me think about things!  I believe that the greatest thing that can ever happen to us is that we see ourselves for who we truly are! In my case, I knew I needed to be set free from myself and I knew that the sin that I loved was killing me!  People think that it's wrong to feel guilty, but we ARE GUILTY before God!  

Rom 3:19  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

And as far as being worthy or consider ourselves good people, Scripture is crystal clear:  

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

How must God feel that His created beings turn away from Him to serve themselves and continue to be slaves to sin, especially since He laid down His own life to save us?  We are only saved not because of who WE ARE, but because Jesus PAID OUR PRICE FOR OUR OWN SINS, and HE chose to do so out of love for us!  All we have to do is repent and turn away from our sin.  He forgives us as far as the east is from the west! People don't repent because they don't see their own sin for what it really is -- a transgression against God!  He has every right to punish us, but He chooses not to!

So what does it mean to love?  True Agape Love is the life that Jesus lived -- He was willing to give His life for another.  This is true love because it is selfless and sacrificial.  If we read I Corinthians 13, we have it all broken down for us.  This is a humbling passage to read, and one that would take a lifetime to try and live by!  We put God first, then others, and self last.  If we truly love God, we will obey Him.  This is what Jesus said:

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Others will know we serve Jesus by our love for one another:

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

The cult of self-love comes from a misunderstanding of the Bible taken from the passage where we are told to love your neighbour as yourself (see Luke 10:27). Jesus was once asked, Who is my neighbour? Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan as the example of how to treat our neighbour (another human being in need) -- see Luke 10:30-37.  We are to go above and beyond. We love ourselves already (no man yet hated his own flesh - see Ephesians 5:29), now we are to go out and love someone else with the same or better care that we give to ourselves.  

As for self-esteem, it can only come from a true picture of who we are in God’s eyes, and not our own.  In and of ourselves, our sinful nature will naturally want to put our own ego and “self” on the throne of our lives, and this is what humanistic thinking is rooted in, self as ruler and the pursuit of self-actualization.  True self-esteem comes from a redeemed life, from the loving and merciful hand of God Himself who made us and knows us and loves us unconditionally.  We will experience a true view of ourselves once we are humble and willing to admit our own sin, and our great need of a Savior.  Then He comes to us and lifts us up, cleans us up, and loves us like no human can ever come close to.  Anything else will never bring the fulfillment we seek or set us free from the pride that keeps us slaves to ourselves.

A Comfortable Way That Leads to Hell

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

What can happen when we start believing what the world believes, and we start to stray from the tried, true and tested Word of God?  Just how far can this take a person on the broad path that leads to destruction?  I remember many years ago when Shirley MacLaine said she was god and that we are all gods.  It is a New Age humanistic idea that places man at the front and center of importance, and puts him at an elevated level of self-importance so he never has to feel bad about himself or any of his actions. It is an idea that has filtered into our educational institutions, psychology offices, books, movies and all sorts of media.  Self-importance seems to rule wherever you turn.  Even some children have the idea that they are perfect angels never deserving of discipline, right?   Of course, you would hope not to find this in Christian circles, since it is the exact opposite of the humility that is to be a sign that we recognize our true nature and we repent from our sin.  If you want to go back even further than Shirley MacLaine, Satan was the first creature that we know of who used this ploy on Eve.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

Now we know that this was completely twisted, and rather than be as gods as the serpent implied, after Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they had their eyes opened alright, but to the fact that they had disobeyed and sinned against God. In fact they ran and tried to hide themselves from God!! This doesn't sound like people who were now in an elevated god-like state, does it? 

So if someone comes up to you and says, “I am god, and we are all gods,” what would you say to them?  I had such an experience not too long ago, and I responded immediately (after shuddering at the thought), and said, “No, I am not a god; I am a sinner saved by the grace of God!” I had not started this conversation, but I knew I had to answer several more issues that arose from that opening statement!  I was able to share with her that, putting aside the organization of the church (which she had said had never done anything for her except make her feel bad about herself), that it was really all about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I told her that Jesus had paid the price for our sin and He was the only way to get to heaven.  I also told her that if we don't love God, we don't know God (let alone say that we are a god!). (I John 4:7-8).

So then the conversation led to a discussion on whether all religions believe the same thing and that Christianity isn't the only religion. She said something I’ve heard many times before and that is that there are many ways to God.  I just told her again what Jesus said:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Then we talked about good works.  My friend argued that people were good and that we're all good and that God loves us all no matter what (and keep in mind that she believes we are all gods).  I said He did love us, but that we were not all good.  I shared that the Bible teaches that our works aren't good enough, and how do you gage what is good and what is not?  She argued profusely with me about us all being good.  But then again, this is the premise of humanism and the New Age philosophies.  If you think about it, it is embedded in our charter of Rights and Freedoms.  This means that a person’s right can supersede the rights of another as in the case of abortion.  A woman has a “right” to decide what happens to her own body, but the fetus has no rights to decide if he or she wants to live. So we must carefully examine what is at the root of the idea of human rights, and see if any of it really lines up with the Bible.

So then as alarm bells were ringing out as the conversation progressed, I thought about my friend’s eternal destiny, and I asked, What about heaven?  I shared that not everyone makes it into heaven because they have to receive the free gift of salvation that Jesus provided for us.  I told her that those who have not received this gift are condemned already (John 3:18).  I also said that Jesus said that not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord will enter into heaven even if they have done many good works like heal the sick and raise the dead. He will say "I never knew you, depart from me." (see Matthew 7:21-23).  

At one point my friend said that the Bible was too old to be relevant for today and that is was written 2,000 years ago, and it was written by man.  Isn't that just like the devil to make a person doubt the authenticity of the Word of God? This is what Satan did to Eve way back at the starting line.  So I just kept quoting Scripture knowing that God's Word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and His Word won't return void (Isaiah 55:11).  And at one point, I prayed and I asked God to give me the right words to say to her. I hoped that the right Scripture would come to mind and was so thankful that I had memorized so many Scriptures when I was just a child.

Then she said that Jesus was a prophet just like Buddha and Mohammed and she named a few others. I said, but none of them died for us. Only Jesus died for us. Well, it seemed that whatever I said, there was a disagreement.  But again, I felt such a sense of urgency for my friend’s eternal soul, and I told her that she better know where she is going after death because it is extremely important. Hell is real and there is no escape.  She argued again.  I told her that heaven is real, and I knew both places are real because I had seen and experienced visions of both of them. I shared with her that when I was young I was in a car accident and nearly died and felt my life slipping away. I was sure I was going to hell and there was no escape. I couldn't wake up!  She just said that heaven and hell are right here on earth.  Then she said that the idea of hell was just fear tactics.  I said that if that is what it takes, then to be afraid of dying because a person knows they aren't ready, then fear is good if it means they will turn their life over to God, even at the end of their life.

Finally, I wanted her to know that Jesus is real and that He comes to us at the point of where we are at.  So I gave her my testimony of how Jesus came to me when I was at the end of my young life with no purpose, and no place to go. He spoke to me and He showed me in Hiss Word who HE is, and I got to do more than read the Word of God. I got to experience it first hand for myself and it changed my life. I told her that this is how I know the Bible is real and not just a book of dry words that is old and meaningless. I said that it is alive and it is life-changing and I am living proof of that!

After this conversation ended and my friend left, I felt that perhaps my friend wanted to discuss these things to see if I might have something to say that she could agree with and therefore be comfortable in her life without Christ.  I tried to warn her and I knew I had to speak the Word of God as boldly as I could, and that it was really important.  

Friends, if you are a Bible-believing Christian, please be careful to stay in the Word of God, and use it as an ultimate authority for absolutely everything you find that is questionable.  And please pray for people like my friend who are confused and do not feel that they need anything more than the feel-good philosophies they believe in!  Time is indeed short. No one knows the hour or the day when we draw our last breath or when Jesus returns.  Eternity lasts forever, and it is too serious to leave to chance.  Yes, God is merciful and God is love, and that's why we must respond to Him today to experience His mercy and love, and not wait until tomorrow.  If you still haven't received this free gift of salvation, please go to this link that will show you how simple it is.  

Lastly, I would not have thought that I would be called on to witness that day when my friend broached the subject about us all being gods.  But you never know when the opportunity will arise, so please be prepared.   You and I might be the last link that leads to a person’s eternal salvation and determines their final destiny.